Fugue (Boss)
Fugue is an agent in service to Count Waltz, the ruler of the region of Forte in the [[World of Eternal Sonata|World of Eternal Sonata]]. As a boss, he is first fought in Agogo Forest by only Frédéric François Chopin and Polka, but the battle is unwinnable, as Fugue's stats are far superior. He later confronts the party in Agogo Village, but this time is defeated. He is fought one final time in a battle exclusive to the PlayStation 3 release of Eternal Sonata. Story Fugue first appears as Frederic and Polka travel through Agogo Forest, en route to Forte Castle, on a rainy day. Fugue, annoyed by the rain and frustrated at not being able to locate the glowing agogos that the has been sent to find, decides to relieve his anger by engaging the two in battle. He swiftly defeats them and leaves their bodies where they lay as he resumes his search for the glowing agogos. The two, however, are rescued by March after the agogos alert her to their presence in the forest. Much later, Frederic, Polka, Beat and March's sister Salsa find themselves in Agogo Village after a long journey to return to Ritardando. Salsa enjoys a brief reunion with March, but the two are distracted when they notice that the agogos have gathered around Polka and are glowing. At that moment, Fugue appears, delighted to have finally discovered where to find the glowing agogos. He engages the party in battle, but this time they are able to defeat him, though he retains enough energy to run off, vowing to finish them off the next time they meet. Later in the party's journey, Polka collapses due to her illness and the party decides to visit the Agogo Forest to seek the aid of the Agogo Queen Mother. They find her, but they also discover Fugue harassing her, annoyed at being "pestered" by an "ordinary agogo" when he only has use for the glowing ones. March and Salsa express their anger at his treatment of the agogos and the party battles him. He falls, but then gets back up and tries to take them out, only to be consumed by the power of the Agogo Queen Mother. Attacks Fugue's normal attacks are slashes with his sword and kicks that can cause knockdown. Fugue utilizes a roster of Special Attacks that can be highly effective. His most dangerous move is Blood Scent'' ''in which he slashes a single target three times with his sword, followed by a powerful finishing blow''. ''J'accuse'' is a dark energy attack in a line with a chance of knockdown. His '''Dark Presence' is a dark energy distance attack on a single target that has a strong chance of causing Stop status. Finally, his Deus Ex Machina can hit a single target for 125% of their current HP (see Strategy section.) Strategy The first battle against Fugue is simply unwinnable. At the standard levels for that stage of the game, Fugue will take out Frederic and Polka in one or two normal hits each even if they're Guarded against and certainly in one hit if he hits with a Special Attack, and he has access to all of the ones that he uses in later battles. Using any items or attempting to heal is counterproductive and if a character actually gets a turn, it will be fastest to simply skip in order to move things along swiftly. If the player attempts to turn the tables on Fugue by either spending outrageous amounts of time leveling up or altering Frederic and Polkas' stats by use of a cheating mechanism, then Fugue will simply use Deus Ex Machina (which carries the same appearance as Dark Presence) to hit for 125% of the target's current HP, an assured KO. The player finally gets their chance at revenge against Fugue in the battle with him in Agogo Village, the same area in which Polka was attacked by the Ogre Champ and L'Opera Knights. The item set should feature either a Poison Whitecap or preferably a Wormwood item to poison Fugue. The remainder of the item set should feature mainly Angel Trumpets and Club Clovers and perhaps a Goddess Bouquet if available, with Cookies in the remaining slots if there is room left. Save before exiting the Wah Lava Cave. Fugue will almost certainly get the first turn in this battle even with Salsa in the party unless the party is very overleveled. As soon as any character gets a turn, immediately attempt to poison Fugue. If the poison fails to take, reset the game and try again. In an Encore Mode playthrough, it might be worth taking in two Wormwoods simply to have a greater chance of poison without having to reset and bringing in an Odd Chocolate/Very Odd Chocolate and Fish Incense/Sock Incense might be helpful as well. While this battle can be won without poison, it provides a great benefit in causing Fugue to stagger at the beginning of each turn and sapping away his HP, which is extremely helpful in this fight. The party choice should be Frederic, Salsa and a selection of either Beat or Polka. Frederic is helpful for additional healing with Spirits Pathway (and will be the sole healer if Polka) is not included and Salsa will be a major damage dealer and Echo builder and can enhance the party's attack power with her Shadow Silhouette if in the darkness. If using Polka, she should remain at a bit of a distance and mainly focus on using Earth Heal, which can be followed with a Shooting Star if additional healing afterwards isn't needed. If using Beat, he should use his normal attacks at a distance to build Echoes, which can then be utilized by Frederic or Salsa. While it may be tempting to use Frederic and Salsas' special moves with low Echoes just for their knockdown effect, it will be best build Echoes whenever possible, though if Salsa has a low Echo count at the end of her turn, then Grand Slam can be used. If using Beat, Fugue may close distance to attack him, which can be useful to the player as a time waster. Fugue is fast and can get two turns in a row, even against a well-leveled party. In Encore Mode, build up 32 Echoes before the battle and don't neglect the poison. If it doesn't stick, then reset and build the Echoes back up again prior to going back into the battle. Unleash powerful Harmony Chains - by this point, Salsa should likely have two light Special Attacks if playing the PlayStation 3 version and two dark ones if playing the Xbox 360 one. In both cases, normal mode and Encore, this battle will be easier if the second fight against Captain Dolce and her lieutenants Bass and Guitar was completed. The third fight against Fugue takes place only in the PlayStation 3 version. Whereas the second fight against Fugue can be challenging for inexperienced players, this third Fugue fight is really rather easy for a number of reasons. It comes after the battle with Rondo in Aria Temple and while she doesn't hit as hard, she is a much faster opponent. Additionally, the player will now have the ability to choose from any party member except Crescendo and Serenade and thus can fight the battle more on their terms. Having a party of Frederic, Allegretto and Viola, all with Burst weapons, can make extremely short work of this fight, and to add insult to his injury, Frederic and Viola are both powerful healers and in normal mode, Harmony Chains were made available following the second fight with Fugue and Counterattacks as well. Poison status can now be inflicted using a Scorpion's Tail item. In Encore Mode, make sure to build up Echoes in Celesta Forest prior to the fight, as the weak opponents in Agogo Forest don't really provide an opportunity to use Echoes. With a powerful team, Fugue will fall in just two to three rounds. Battle Quotes Battle Opening *I can't stand the smell of this forest - the plants, the animals, and the sweat coming from you people! (1st battle) *I'll allow you all to comfort each other, since this is the end of your pathetic lives. (2nd battle) *Please don't give me a hard time. (2nd battle) *I'll leave your bodies to rot, right here. (3rd battle) Character Responses *'Polka': Ah! What are you doing!? Stop it! (1st battle, Xbox 360) *'Polka': What are you doing!? (1st battle, PS3) Special Attacks *'Blood Scent' **For flowers to reflect in water, the water must be clean. **In order to enjoy the morning roses, you must kill the insects! *'Dark Presence' **You will die, freezing beneath the blazing sun! *'J'accuse' **Its elegant fragrance is lost amongst these weeds! **You peasants can never appreciate beauty of this kind. Following Special Attacks *Heh, pitiful. *I can hear the accolades. *Very commendable. Victorious Against Party *Ugh, I got dirt on my clothes. (1st and 2nd battles) *Damn. I broke out in a sweat. (3rd battle) Special Attacks Gallery Fugue Using Blood Scent.jpg|Blood Scent Fugue Uses Dark Presence.jpg|Dark Presence Fugue Uses Deus Ex Machina.jpg|Deus Ex Machina Fugue Uses J'accuse.jpg|J'accuse Trivia . *In the Xbox 360 version of Eternal Sonata, Fugue is defeated permanently in the battle with him in Agogo Village and does not appear at all in the cutscene following him. The sequence in which the party revisits Agogo Forest is not present. *In the PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata, the amount of EXP granted for defeating Fugue was reduced by 10000 points and his HP was reduced by around 20000. *For winning the battle against Fugue in Agogo Village in normal mode, the Party Level is upgraded to 4. *The name of Fugue's Deus Ex Machina Special Attack is a reference to the idea of the "god from the machine," a concept associated with the Greek playwright Euripides that has since passed into popular culture, in which a "seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object."Wikipedia entry on Deus ex machina *Fugue's J'Accuse is French for "I accuse." *Fugue's Deus ex Machina, used only in the first battle with him, is the only known attack in the game capable of instant death as it always deals a damage of 125% of your max HP. *With the PS3 exclusive battle, Fugue is the mostly fought human boss in the game, with three mandatory battles. (Excluding Captain Dolce since she only has one mandatory battle, while the other battles are optional.) Related enemies *Tuba *Rondo *Waltz Notes and references Category:Human Bosses